Daniel and Henrik Sedin might be able to combine tonight in Game 4 and do something the Vancouver Canucks haven't done much against Jonathan Quick, score on the Los Angeles Kings stopper. (Getty Images/via National Hockey League).

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Dustin Brown has the best book on beating Jonathan Quick. He has to face his teammate in practice day after day and the prospect of pounding a puck past the cat-like quick Vezina Trophy candidate isn’t any easier even when there are no points at stake.

“Quick is reactionary, you’ve got to not think really to be honest,” the captain said in advance of Game 4 tonight in the Western Conference quarterfinal in which the Los Angeles Kings hold a commanding 3-0 lead over the Vancouver Canucks. “You’ve just got to shoot it and just get around him. Against a guy who’s more aggressive, you can find a hole because they’re always in constant motion. Quick is all over the place but he’s a guy who’s so competitive. Some goalies won’t battle through traffic and if he has to get done on one knee to look through a guy’s legs, he’s doing it.

“He’s had that competitive edge ever since he’s been here.”

The Kings have never led a series 3-0 and won just one playoff round in 2001 since Wayne Gretzky led the charge to the 1993 Stanley Cup final. A lot of that postseason misery has to do with goaltending and a lack of it. The list of stoppers before the current tandem of Quick and Jonathan Bernier reads like an obituary list of goalies whose careers either expired too early or were kept on life support through desperation — Steve Passmore, Stephane Fiset, Felix Potvin, Jamie Storr, Roman Cechmanek, Cristobal Huet, Mathieu Garon, Jason Labarbera, Sean Burke, Dan Cloutier, Yutaka Fukufuji, Jean-Sebastien Aubin and Erik Ersberg. Doesn’t exactly scream Vezina Trophy, the coveted award a Kings stopper has never won.

“The biggest problem in my six years is we’ve had some pretty good teams here but we have no goalie,” admitted Brown. “You build your team from the goalie out. You can have a good team and an average goaltender and you become an average team because hockey is a game of mistakes and there are going to be Grade A scoring opportunities. And if you don’t have a goalie who can make those saves, you’re not going to be able to advance as a team and an organization.”

After a regular season in which he led the league with 10 shutouts and the second best goals-against average of 1.95, Quick has stopped 111 of the 115 shots the Canucks have directed his way for a 1.33 GAA and .965 saves percentage and he also blanked them in the pivotal Game 3. Athleticism has allowed Quick to supplant first-round pick Bernier as the Kings’ go-to guy and his post-to-post coverage combined with the ability to take away the bottom part of the net makes it tough to jam pucks past him. And with the Kings blocking 62 series shots compared to 42 by the Canucks, pucks aren’t getting through and Quick is seeing the ones that do.

“It’s the same thing we’ve been doing it all year,” shrugged Quick. “It makes my job a lot easier and means a lot to our success. It just builds confidence.”

The Kings are also confident that they have an answer for Daniel Sedin because the winger is expected return tonight after missing a dozen games with a concussion, unless he has a setback from the morning skate. As much as the imagination and artistry with Henrik Sedin is tough to defend, it’s hard to imagine how effective the 30-goal scorer can be. Still, the Kings are wary and plan to play the twins aggressively but smartly.

“They know where each other is all the time and they make those five-foot passes that other players can’t make and we have to be aware of that,” said defenceman Drew Doughty.

Henrik has had spectacular shifts where he has wheeled on defenders and controlled the puck but has been hard pressed to find an open winger. David Booth will start on the top line and as much as he has the speed to accept passes and will get to the net where he scored most of his 16 goals, it’s the magic between Henrik and Daniel that will draw the attention.

“They’re special individually and when you put them together, they can do some things out there that are pretty impressive,” said Brown. “It’s important for us to understand the dynamic when they’re together. We’ve got to be hard on both of them, limit time and space. Henrik has had a few shifts where he controlled the play and when you let a guy do that and throw his brother in mix he’s going to find Daniel.”

OF NOTE — Brad Richardson (appendectomy) took the optional skate Wednesday and is expected to replace Andrei Loktionov in Game 4. Kyle Clifford skated in a non-contact jersey after having his head slammed into glass in Game 1 by Byron Bitz.

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